French Creek State Park

How dark the sky is at French Creek: Bortle Class 4, rural and suburban transition

The zenith sky here reads 20.63 magnitudes per square arcsecond. That is about 3.5 times the brightness of a pristine natural sky (22.0), the extra coming from artificial light scattered in the air.

Sky brightness and class come from the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness (Falchi et al. 2016, CC BY-NC 4.0), with natural skyglow added. On the night, haze, smoke, humidity and the Moon set the real limit.

What's up from French Creek by season

At latitude 40.2°N, the north celestial pole stands 40° above the horizon, close to Polaris. Every star north of declination -50° rises at some time of year. The Milky Way core in Sagittarius climbs to 21° above the southern horizon. These are the constellations well placed, 35° or more above the horizon, at about 10 pm in the middle of each season, brightest first.

Showpieces from French Creek through the year

At about 10 pm on the 15th of each month; a dash means the sight is below 25° then.

Never set from French Creek

• Camelopardalis
• Cassiopeia
• Cepheus
• Draco
• Ursa Major
• Ursa Minor

Only skim the southern horizon from French Creek

• Centaurus
• Corona Australis
• Grus
• Lupus
• Phoenix
• Vela

Never rise from French Creek

• Apus
• Ara
• Carina
• Chamaeleon
• Circinus
• Crux
• Dorado
• Horologium
• Hydrus
• Indus
• Mensa
• Musca
• Norma
• Octans
• Pavo
• Pictor
• Reticulum
• Telescopium
• Triangulum Australe
• Tucana
• Volans

Where to set up at French Creek

The coordinates on this page point to Park center (Wikipedia infobox point), at 238 m (780 ft): 40.198°N, 75.793°W.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the larger map · Directions. Arrive before dark, park facing away from other observers, and use red light only.

French Creek among the dark sky places of Pennsylvania

Each dot is a dark sky place, colored by Bortle class; select one for its page. Diamonds are star parties. See Pennsylvania dark sky places for the full list, darkest first.

Camping and lodging at French Creek

The nearest town with motels or inns is Morgantown, PA. Check the official site for campgrounds and overnight rules; many parks close their gates at night, so ask about after-dark access.

Dark sky places nearest French Creek

Star parties near French Creek

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Pennsylvania puts the dark sky places, observatories, clubs, star parties, planetariums and science centers of the state on one map, with the best night out worked out.

Observatories and astronomy clubs near French Creek

Observatories within 100 km

• Bradstreet ObservatorySt. Davids, Pennsylvania, 40 km (25 mi), research observatory
• Villanova ObservatoryVillanova, Pennsylvania, 42 km (26 mi), open to the public
• Mt. Cuba Astronomical ObservatoryWilmington, Delaware, 47 km (29 mi), open to the public
• Widener University ObservatoryChester, Pennsylvania, 53 km (33 mi), open to the public
• Univ. of Pennsylvania ObservatoryPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, 57 km (35 mi), open to the public
• Holt and Miller Observatory (Franklin Institute)Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 59 km (37 mi), open to the public

Nearest astronomy clubs

• Berks County Amateur Astronomical SocietyReading, Pennsylvania, 22 km (14 mi)
• ChesMont Astronomical SocietyLimerick, Pennsylvania, 22 km (14 mi). Meets Crow's Nest Preserve (Natural Lands), Elverson PA
• Chester County Astronomical SocietyWest Chester, Pennsylvania, 32 km (20 mi). Meets 2nd Tuesday monthly (Jan-May, Sep-Nov)
• Delaware Valley Amateur AstronomersBlue Bell, Pennsylvania, 40 km (25 mi). Meets Monthly, usually Friday evening
• Villanova Astronomical SocietyVillanova, Pennsylvania, 42 km (26 mi)

See observatories and astronomy clubs in Pennsylvania. Local clubs often hold their star parties at dark sky places like this one.

French Creek record

From the site's dark sky places dataset (parks_q426). The sky by season is computed from the coordinates.